


Free to a Good Home: Run Away Chat

by Wolfyred



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Reveal, SFW even though someone gets tied up, adrien runs away, sfw, this will appear on my tumblr before posting here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-18 09:56:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21509212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfyred/pseuds/Wolfyred
Summary: Adrien decides that he's not taking it any more and decides to run away. As Chat Noir he asks Ladybug if she has any suggestions on what he can do since he doesn't want to stay in his home any more. Ladybug decides the only way to help his civilian side to with her civilian side.Inspired by an idea from alexseanchai and actualaster on tumblrhttps://alexseanchai.tumblr.com/post/187317728060/free-to-a-good-homehttps://actualaster.tumblr.com/post/187318090712/im-just-imagining-marinette-retransforming
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 30
Kudos: 131





	1. Half a reveal

“AAAAAUUUUGGGHHGHGGHHGGH!!!!!!” Adrien’s cry was guttural and harsh. It could be heard throughout almost every room in the mansion.

What is the point! He’s never gonna let me out from under his thumb! If he can do this, then he’ll never see me as a grown up! I’ll never have a life of my own. Adrien silently fumed as he stomped around his room.

“Kid,” Plagg floated up and noticed tears were forming at the corner of Adrien’s eyes. “Awe Adrien.” Plagg flew up to his chosen’s neck and started to rub his face against his skin. A purr rumbled deep in his throat as he offered what comfort he could.

Adrien stopped walking when he felt Plagg against his neck. The tears started to flow freely. Adrien slowly crouched, and then knelt on the floor, cradling his kwami.

After a few minutes the crying slowed. Adrien stroked Plagg’s head and said quietly, “I guess I‘m gonna take your advice.”

Plagg moved and floated in front of Adrien. “Which bit of my awesome advice are you going to take?”

Adrien stood up and walked over to the windows of his room.

“Kid?”

A hand brushed the final tears off. Adrien raised his chin and looked out over Paris. “I’m getting out.”

\-----------------------------------

Ladybug was waiting on the top of the The Hôtel de Ville to start their patrol. She saw Chat Noir slowly looping towards her. He was moving rather slower than usual for her kitty.

Chat gracefully landed beside Ladybug and slightly bowed. “Echante my lady. It’s a beautiful night and the company is ever so lovely.” He reached for her hand and raised it to his lips for a kiss.

Ladybug let him. Which was kind of unusual. Normally she would pull her hand away and boop his nose pushing him back, but the sadness in his eyes belied the flirtatiousness of his words. “Chat? Is everything ok?”

Chat sighed and let Ladybug’s hand slide from his. “Can’t hide much from you Bugaboo. Yeah, something is .. not wrong .. but not right.” He sighed and sat down on the roof, dangling his legs over the edge. Glancing down at a space beside himself he sighed, “Can we just sit and talk for a bit. Skip patrol?”

Chat wouldn’t meet her eyes and Ladybug sat down next to him, “Sure Chat. Whatever you need right now.” Ladybug had never felt so much sadness off him. She noticed the slight hunch to his shoulders, the slouch in his back. All signs of dejection. She waited for him to speak, silently letting him know she’d wait until he was ready to talk.

Chat tilted his head to the sky. Took a deep breath. “You’ve know that for a long time I haven’t had the best home life.” Ladybug hummed in agreement. “Well, the last few months have been really strained between my father and I.”

Chat shifted a moment and twiddled his fingers. “I’m not sure how old you are but I’m going to be going into Lycee next year. I mentioned to him that the papers had been handed out for our selections on what we want to do, which courses and path we want to take. Prepping for the BAC. He barely acknowledged that he heard me. I tried to ask for his help in picking things out and he then told me to deal with it myself and just hand the papers over to ... his secretary and he’d sign it. So I picked out my path and classes, gave it to her and we went into his office. She handed it to him. He didn’t even look at it. He asked if it was complete and the secretary said yes and he signed it.”

Ladybug let out a horrified gasp. For a father to have absolutely no interest in what their child wants to do with their life.... She never thought anyone else could be as bad as Adrien’s dad. She gently placed her hand on Chat’s thigh. He placed his hand over it.

Chat sniffed and continued on. “I thought that was bad enough. You know, no interest at all. I handed in the forms and after a week got back that response that I was cleared for it, and took that paper home. Left it with the secretary and did homework.” Chat grasped Ladybug’s hand tightly. “A few days later the teacher gave me another set of papers. Told me that my classes had been changed as per my father’s request. Everything was fine and good to go.”

Chat let go of Ladybug’s hand and stood up. “Good to Go!” he shouted. “I can’t believe it. There is nothing good about this! He let me set it all up and then he just went and redid everything to the way he wanted without even telling me.” Chat Noir paced around the roof.

“Chat,” Ladybug had also stood up and tried to put her hand on his arm. Hoping to calm him down a bit.

“He always does this.” The tears started to seep into his words, “He doesn’t ask me what I want to do. He doesn’t find out what interests me. He just sets things up and tells me as almost an after thought. He could have told me when I first got the paperwork on what classes he wanted me to take at least. But this. This!” The tears had overflowed and Chat had to stop as they blurred his vision.

“It was...” His voice got quiet, “This was like he let me think that I had a choice in my life only to show me that I didn’t. That I am his to control.” Chat wasn’t aware of when his lady had come up behind and gently wrapped her arms around him. His face turned to the sky again, the tears rolled. After a moment Ladybug slid around to his front and just held him.

Ladybug tightened her arms around Chat and held him until his breathing grew steady. She pulled back and looked at him. “That is intolerable Chat. You don’t deserve that. You deserve better than that.”

“Yeah, I...” Chat nodded and pulled out from her arms. “I think I’m going to do what my kwami has been suggesting. I’m leaving. It will be hard for my civilian side. I’m going to have to leave school. I can’t stay at my friend’s place. Father would look there first and force me back home.”

“He’d do that?”

“I think so. I’d try running away to like, another city but I can’t leave Paris, can’t leave you to defend it on your own. And I’d miss you too much.” Chat glanced down at his boots before looking back at Ladybug. “So, anyway, I’m kind of wondering if you know of any place I could go? I have some funds from my working for him. I can move them over to another bank or something. But I was also wondering if I should go to Master Fu. I know I shouldn’t stay with him in case Hawk Moth finds us, but do you think he can help or offer advice? What do you think I should do?”

Ladybug thought for a bit. He watched the ideas and feelings cross her features. It was why he wanted to ask her. She always comes up with the best plans.

Ladybug seemed to reach some kind of decision, then it seemed like she started an argument in her head. She muttered under her breath, “Tikki’s not going to be happy.” And then reached a decision by lightly smacking a closed fist into the palm of her other hand. With determination etched on her face she declared, “Here’s what were going to do.” She looked at Chat. “We’re going to reveal our identities and then you’re moving in with me.”

Chat was gobbed smacked. “WHAT?!” he cried.

“Well, technicality you already know me and I know you like my folks, my folks like you too, so we’ll take you in.” She grinned at him.

Chat shook his head, he knew Ladybug was kind and would help out anyone in anyway she could, but this, this was beyond what she should do.

“Ladybug, I can’t impose on you and your family. If my dad ever found out...”

Ladybug waved a hand to shush him. “Don’t worry. My parents and I will fight tooth and nail for you Chat. I’m hoping we won’t have to tell them we’re heros though. I’m going to have to come up with a reasonable reason for why I want to help a stranger so much, but when we explain to them about what your dad is doing they should be more than willing to help you out.”

Ladybug had looked off towards where Chat assumed, was the direction of her home when something clicked in his head. “Wait,” he put a hand on her shoulder and gently turned her back to face him. “First you say I know you and then you said we’re strangers. My Lady, we are strangers. You’re talking about convincing your parents to let a stranger into their house to live with them. I could be a criminal for all you or they know.”

Ladybug puts her hands on her hips, “First of all Chat, you’re a hero of Paris. I seriously doubt you’re a criminal in your civilian life. Secondly,” Ladybug stepped back from him, “you do know me. Tikki! Spots off!”


	2. Marinette is awsome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette reveals herself and Chat Noir thinks she's too good to get caught up in his problems. Well, she's gonna help him even if she has to tie him up and make him listen to her.

“WHAT! NO!” Chat Noir looked down and squeezed his eyes tightly shut. He threw his hands against his face so hard that he almost knocked himself back.

“Chat, it’s fine.” Ladybug put her hand on his shoulder. “If we’re going to get you out of this problem at home I’m going to have to help your civilian side. We’re gonna have to do this as civilians.”

Chat shook his head. “No way My Lady. I only wanted to know if you had any ideas on what I could or should do.” He tried to turn away so she couldn’t pull his hands away. If he accidentally saw her then she’d be able to argue that he can’t refuse her help. “This is my problem and I can deal with it. I don’t want to involve you. Or your family.”

Chat started to walk away but quickly realized that he’d have to uncover his eyes to see where he was going. Ladybug took that moment to come up behind him and wrap her arms around his waist.

“Chat, answer me honestly.” She whispered into his back. “Are you my partner?”

There was a pause. “Yes.”

“Do you trust me?”

“With my life.”

“We are in this together. I trust you. I want to help. You are my partner, my friend. I want to help.” Ladybug moved a hand up and placed it over Chat’s heart. “Let me help you.”

Chat breathed in deeply. He doesn’t know what his father might do to anyone who helps him. He doesn’t want to risk her. But, she risks herself for Paris. He risks himself for her. He could feel her sigh behind him.

They stood for a moment, together. Ladybug silently pleading for him to let her help. Chat torn between letting her help and risking her to his father’s anger.

Tikki flew near his head. “While I’m not happy that Ladybug is showing you who she is. Your home situation warrants it. Plagg and I have talked on rare occasions. He worries about you. He loves you. He wants you to be happy. And if your father treats you like that then you need to get out of there for your happiness and mental health. Let Ladybug help you.”

Finally, as if it was Plagg's voice urging, Chat Noir realized if he hadn’t wanted her to help him beyond just giving him some ideas, he wouldn’t have come to her. It’s just in her to give all she can to help others. Maybe, this way, he might have a chance to help her when she needs it too.

“OK.”

Ladybug squeezed Chat briefly and stepped back. She helped turn him so he was facing her and let him go.

Chat lowered his hands from his face. He slowly pried open one eye while looking at her shoes. Pink flats with black trim. Simple but elegant. He opened his other eye and started to look up. Pink pants, rolled mid calf. Small pink and white purse at her hip, had he seen that before? A white shirt with a ... black blazer!!!! His eyes snapped up to her face.

Pigtails and sky-blue eyes. “Marinette!!!”

“Hi Chat.” Marinette gave him a small wave then grabbed her other arm with that hand. “Told ya you knew me.”

Marinette decided to give Chat Noir a moment to freak out in silence. She knew he would have to come to grips with the fact that all those nights he had visited Marinette he was actually with Ladybug. Oh man, how would he react to remembering everything he confessed about Ladybug to, well, her?

For a moment there was one word running through Chat Noir’s mind. 

Crap. Crap! CRAP! CRAP! crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap

Of course Ladybug was Marinette. Who else was kind, helpful and fearless. I’ve called her our everyday Ladybug and gosh I was right. Marinette is strong, caring and she’s a great designer. She’s just so wonderful and thoughtful and beautiful. It’s actually not surprising she wants to help me. Wait, she wants to help Chat Noir.

This was bad, he thought. Marinette doesn’t like me that much! Adrien me! She’s still so nervous around me. As soon as she finds out who I am she gonna take back her offer of help. That whole thing in the museum, she is just so uncomfortable around me. She hasn’t talked to me proper since. She probably hates me by now. Yeah, she can tease Chat Noir, but Adrien? Adrien Agreste? Would she still want to help me get away from my father?

Chat’s eyes blew wide and he staggered back a little bit, raising his arm in front for balance.

My father! If he ever finds out Marinette is helping me to runaway he could ruin her career before it goes any where. He dragged a hand through his hair. He’ll make her life a living hell! He’ll go after her! Her family. No, Tom and Sabine don’t deserve my father coming after their daughter. What if father tries to do something to the bakery?

“Umm Chat?” Marinette’s soft voice intruded into his thoughts. “Are you ok? I wanted to give you some time to freak out mentally but, what are you thinking?” Marinette stepped closer to Chat Noir, reaching out a tentative hand to his shoulder to offer comfort.

Chat jumped back like he was about to be scorched by her touch. “I’m fine,” he eeped. He cleared his throat. “Marinette, I’m actually not surprised you’re Ladybug. You’re kind, gentle, caring, you think of others before yourself. You’re wonderful and bea.., uh, brave. Strong. And,” Chat stepped up to Marinette and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I can’t let you do this.”

She looked up at him in confusion. Deiu, when did she get so beautiful, he thought.

Marinette’s own mind had been racing. She had caught that word. Beautiful. But all those complements still didn’t tell her why she couldn’t help. “Chat, I want to help you. You are my partner. And I hope after all this you are still my friend.” Marinette had moved her hands to Chat’s waist and lightly gripped him there.

Chat shook his head. “No. Yes you are my partner and yes we are still friends, but my father.” Chat broke her hold on him by stepping back from her and letting go of her as well. “My father is rather ... influential. He’s powerful and rich. He can be cold and he’s a successful businessman. Not many get the better of a deal out of him. I might even call him a little ruthless and he won’t let anything get in the way of what he wants.”

“He leaves you alone and forces you to do a job you don’t really like. He doesn’t let you be, well, you. You need to get away from him. I want to help. I’m going to help.” Marinette had gotten a determined look in her eyes.

Chat knew that look. He backed away slowly, turning and walking slowly to the other side of the roof as he talked. “I know you want to help. But he is very powerful. He could ruin your life, he might threaten your family if he knew you helped me. I know you’re going to say, you’re worth it Chat, but I couldn’t live with myself if your family lost the bakery.”

Marinette and Tikki watched Chat Noir wander around the roof as he talked. Tikki had just finished one of the emergency cookies Marinette carried. Marinette was growing suspicious of Chat’s wandering, especially as he paused near a edge when he finished talking.

Chat looked at Marinette. “Marinette, Ladybug, I care about you a great deal and I won’t let you possibly ruin your future.” Chat whipped out his baton and vaulted away.

Marinette cursed under he breath and started running after him, calling for her transformation and slinging out her yo-yo before she took more than a step off into the air.

“Come back here you stupid cat!” She hollered after Chat, swinging in large arcs to try and get ahead of him.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------

“Sorry!” Chat yelled over his shoulder. Ladybug had been chasing him a couple of minutes and seemed to be slowly catching up. “Trust me! It’s for the best!”

“Your dad ruining my life means nothing when I don’t know who he is!” Ladybug swung out over a small crowd and hoped they were high enough that the people wouldn’t hear them.

It took about 10 minutes for Ladybug to catch up to Chat Noir. They were running across the roof of Francois Dupont when she finally managed to sling her yo-yo string around his legs and tackle him to the roof.

They rolled back and forth for a few moments, each struggling for the upper hand. The yo-yo string stared to loosen. Ladybug managed to get Chat Noir face down and sat on his back, she grabbed his tail and wrapped it around his hands to tie them together. 

“This won’t work My Lady.” Chat Noir started to pull at his hands while Ladybug sat on the middle of his back to keep him down. He managed to kick the yo-yo string off his legs and then tried to get his hands free.

As Chat grunted and pulled at his bonds, Ladybug noticed that Chat had his feet free and was about to get his hands loose. She threw her yo-yo in the air and yelled, “Lucky Charm!” After the red sparkles and light died down a set of cuffs fell into her hands. There was a short chain that went to a second set of slightly larger cuffs.

“Really?” she complained. Ladybug took the larger cuffs and placed them around Chat’s ankles, despite him trying to kick her off. Before she could manage to get the cuffs around his wrists he managed to buck her off and tried to get up.

Since the chain between his ankle cuffs was so short he did not manage to stand. He grabbed his baton and bashed at the chain of the lucky charm to no avail.

“Come on Chat,” Ladybug implored. “Let me help you. I want to help you. If you need to I can help you figure out how to get away from your dad legally. Are you old enough to declare yourself an adult?”

“None,” smack, “of,” ting, “your,” clang, “business!” Chat grunted out while trying to break the chain. “I just have to wait 4 more minutes and you’ll detransform and then the lucky charm disappears and I’m out of here.”

Ladybug sighs. She slings out her yo-yo and pulls the baton away from Chat. Then uses it to tie his arms to his sides. “Your trapped kitty. We’re going to talk about this one way or another.” She puts the cuffs around his wrists.

Hoping to throw her off mentally Chat leered at her, “If I had know you were into this kinky stuff I would have suggested tying me up awhile ago.” He waggled his eyebrow and hoped that since it was Marinette under the mask she would start to stutter and fluster and the timer would run out on her earrings.

“I’m not..” it had worked, Marinette was flustered. “This isn’t about that right now Chat!” Ladybug stomped her foot and blushed and growled. She might have kept going but her earrings beeped at her.

“Two minutes Bugaboo. Now do you want to talk or do something else?” Chat smiled and winked at her.

Ladybug, while furiously blushing, bent down and grabbed Chat’s baton and then Chat himself. She manoeuvred Chat over her shoulder and said, “Good thing it’s less than a minute to my place from here.”

Chat groaned, he had forgotten she lived almost right next to the school. As Ladybug carried him across the roof towards her house Chat glanced at her earrings. Only 1 spot had disappeared. “What?” he exclaimed. “You should be down to one spot, not have only lost one spot!”  
Ladybug put her free hand to her earring, “Tikki must be giving me some extra time to get you home.” She grabbed the baton and launched herself into the sky and Chat moaned in misery.


	3. It's not kink or bondage. I swear!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug gets Chat Noir home and ties him to a chair. Lot's of awkward and embarrassed blushing before she's done. Then while she's getting snacks for them and Plagg, Tikki talks to Chat, trying to convince him to let Marinette help.

Despite Chat’s squirming, Ladybug managed to get him to her balcony. She flicked open the skylight to her room with Chat’s baton and tossed it down. She then tried to lower Chat through.

“Stop squirming you stupid cat.” Ladybug aimed Chat’s feet towards the skylight and bent her knees to lower him through.

Chat whisper yelled, “Let me go! Please Ladybug. It’s not going to work. I won’t be responsible for my father ruining your family. Think of your parents! Do you want them to possibly loose the bakery?” Chat was wiggling and twisting as much as he could.

All he succeeded in doing was making Ladybug bang his legs against the skylight edge. When he felt the lip of the frame under his toes again, he tried to place his feet on the edge and give a shove.

All he actually did was balance himself into an almost stand. Ladybug righted him a little more shoved her hands under his armpits as best as she could, then used a foot to push his feet into her room. She was not quite ready for the full weight of him and they both tumbled into her room and onto her bed.

Valiantly trying to minimize the damage they might have upon landing, Chat tried to manoeuvre his body while falling. He ended up on his back. Head at the foot of her bed, farthest away from the skylight. This had led to him pulling Ladybug along his length. After a stunned moment she shimmed so when she sat up she was not sitting on his hands, but this caused her legs to slide to the sides of his hips. The chain between the sets of cuffs was long enough that it got pushed to the right side of Chat’s legs and Ladybug didn’t have to sit on it.

Ladybug sat there rubbing her upper arms which were sore from the sudden shift of weight from the fall. Her earrings beeped again, the second beep. It seemed like Tikki was holding out and giving Ladybug as much time as she could. Marinette was going to have to give her lots of cookies after this.

Ladybug looked down at Chat and noticed a red flush across his face. “What’s wrong? Did I land on you too hard? Are you hurt?” She placed an hand on his cheek and looked over his face while she talked. She also ran a hand over his chest and wiggled back a bit to look over his arms better. “Did I hurt your hands in the cuffs? Is my yo-yo too tight?”

“Ladybug,” Chat tried to interject. She kept on trying to examine him. “My Lady,” he tired again.

Ladybug ran her hands down his arms to his hands and noticed they were clenched into fists. She quickly looked back up at his face and saw how red he was. “Chat? Are you developing a fever? Is the yo-yo cutting off your circulation?”

“No, my Lady, you’re,” Chat tried again but Ladybug just placed her left hand on his chest and leaned down to get a closer look at his face while she placed her right hand on his forehead.

“You don’t feel hot. But then I have gloves on.” She shifted forward and move up him to put her cheek on his forehead. “No fever.”

“Marinette!” Chat yelled, slightly muffled, from the region of her neck.

Thinking she had hurt him even more she moved back and sat up again.

“W-what? Did I hurt you again?” She stuttered.

All Chat Noir could do was blush. He tried to speak, his mouth opened and a squeak came out. He closed it again and just nodded at where their bodies were touching before turning his head away.

Ladybug looked down herself to realize where she was sitting on him. Since she had not wanted to sit on his hands, which were resting at his waist, she had moved farther down to over his hips. She blushed, her face and neck turning red in less than an instant. She scrambled off him and off her bed. Arms flailing, feet scrabbling, and basically flung herself down her ladder.

Ladybug landed with a thud and her earrings beeped for the third time.

“Right!” She was standing in a flash. While Chat Noir lay on her bed she glanced around her room trying to find something to keep Chat here so they could talk. Her eyes lit upon her chair, some heavy fabric discards and a piece of rope she had used in an art project the previous week.

Ladybug first moved the chair to the centre of the room and locked 2 of the wheels. Then she laid the rope and fabric on the floor. She grabbed some scissors from her desk and cut the fabric into long strips.

Meanwhile Chat hadn’t just been laying there. As the flush in his cheeks went down he tried to twist his hands free. He contemplated using a cataclysm to break out of the cuffs, but that would still leave the yo-yo string around his arms. Possibly he could stand up and try to get out through the skylight but he wouldn’t be able to run very far along roofs with his arms tied.

He twisted his head to look over the edge of the bed and down at her. Crap, he thought, she’s gonna tie me to her chair and I won’t be able to get away before Plagg has to drop the transformation. He shifted over on to his front and manoeuvred his legs to the ladder. If I can sneak downstairs maybe I can find scissors of a knife, or just hide until she has to detransform. Then I can run.

Chat had managed to get on the ladder but since he couldn’t move his hands far from his torso he had to bum-bump down. He tried to be slow, he tried to be quiet. He was about 2 steps from the bottom when Ladybug stood up.

“There, all cut.” She said while her back was to Chat. There was a fourth beep from her earrings. “Thanks for coming down, now I don’t have to haul you down the steps.” She started brushing nonexistent dirt off her hands as she turned.

Chat’s eyes blew wide. She knew I was coming down? He had thought he had been so quite. Well, she won’t be getting me in that chair!

Chat Noir leveraged himself up and tried to hop towards the stairs down from Marinette’s room. Ladybug shot out her foot and closed the trap door. It made a loud bang, Ladybug hoped it hadn’t woken up her parents.

Ladybug leaned over and grabbed Chat, twisting him towards the chair. “Right, let’s get you in the chair and then we’ll talk.”

“We can talk now,” Chat complained.

“Unuh.” Ladybug unceremoniously shoved Chat Noir into the chair. As she reached down for one of the strips of cloth Chat lunged to the side and fell on the floor.

“Chat, stop it! You’re going to wake up my parents with all this bumping around. I want to have our story straight before I involve them.” Ladybug knelt down to help him back into the chair.

Chat tried to squirm out of the grasp. “Maybe that’s a good idea, get them up here, let them see you and wonder why Ladybug is tying up Chat Noir in their daughter’s room.” He tried to bang his feet on the floor.

Ladybug grabbed the chain between his feet and lifted them up. “You, you... “ she stuttered. “Stop it Chat!” Ladybug grappled with the twisting boy and finally got him in the chair. She immediately straddled him and wrapped her arms around him and the chair. “I’m not letting you go until we deal with this.” Using a foot she reached for a fabric strip up and tossed it up so she could catch it with her hand. She pulled back enough to notice that Chat was blushing again and was kind of spaced out.

Realizing he was utterly embarrassed about her straddling him again, Ladybug swallowed her own discomfort and tied the strip around his arms and the chair back while he was shocked.

By the time she had a second strip tied around his arms, Chat came out of his daze. He struggled a little more but quickly gave up.

Ladybug pulled her yo-yo off his torso and made sure the fabric was tight enough to keep him there but not too tight to hurt. She stood up and then wrapped fabric around his wrists above the cuffs. Kneeling down she used the rope around his legs to bind him from knee to just above the ankle cuffs. She then used a piece of fabric to anchor the rope to the pedestal of her chair so he couldn’t kick out very far.

Ladybug had 1 piece of fabric left and was contemplating using it as a gag when her earring beeped for the final time and her transformation dropped. She reached out and caught Tikki in the fabric. Making a nest of the fabric she placed Tikki on her desk and patted her head.

“You sit there. I’ll go get you some extra cookies. Thank you for holding out so long so I could get Chat Noir tied up here.” Marinette placed a kiss on Tikki’s head. She walked past Chat and bent down to open her trapdoor. She looked back at him before going downstairs.

“I’m going to get cookies for Tikki, and some drinks and snacks for us. What does Plagg like?” Marinette took a step down the stairs, waiting for Chat to answer.

“Why do you need to know what my kawmi eats?” Chat was acting sullen.

Marinette put her hands on her hips. “I’m keeping you here until we have a good long talk about what to do. Your kwami will have to drop your transformation at some point tonight. He will be hungry by then.”

Tikki pipped up from the desk. “Bring him some cheese, mushrooms or something else that is earthy, fermented or rotten.”

Marinette nodded and went downstairs as quietly as she could. Chat Noir glared at Tikki.

“What?” she shrugged. “We both know that when Plagg is released from the ring he’s going to complain loudly that he needs to eats. And Stinky Sock loves smelly or rotten things. He is destruction after all.” She snuggled into her fabric nest, looking really tired.

Chat noticed how tired she looked. “Are you alright? Did you hurt yourself keeping the transformation up for so long?” He tried to wiggle the chair closer. While he wasn’t happy that she had given Ladybug the extra time, he didn’t want to see her in in pain over it.

Tikki yawned, “I’m just tired. A few dozen cookies, a nap, and I should be fine.”

Chat smiled. “So, Plagg eats smelly rotten things because he is destruction and you eat sweet and sugary things because you’re creation. Right?”

“Yup.”

“I wish Plagg would eat sweet things occasionally. I’m tired of him making my room smell.” They both chuckled.

Chat glanced towards the stairs and then back at Tikki. “You know who I am, right?”

Tikki nodded, “I do Adrien.”

Chat continued in a hushed voice, “Then you know my father is Gabriel Agreste. Marinette wants to be a fashion designer in the future. If my father finds out Marinette is helping me to run away he will ruin her career.”

“Chat Noir, Marinette wants to help you. For more reasons than I can go into right now. You need someone to support you. Plagg has told me how cold and lonely your home is at times. Marinette has her family to support her. You don’t. From what I can tell your dad does love you but because of something in his past he became cold and withdrawn. If you don’t let Marinette help you get away from your dad, can you at least let her provide you the support you need?”

“Tikki, I ...” Chat sighed heavily, “I don’t know. I know she wants to help me but... I’m so confused right now. Marinette is this awesome person and as Ladybug she has so much to worry about with Hawk Moth, then there’s her school work, she’s class president and she cares about so many people... I just can’t throw the worry and stress of ‘saving’ me from my home life on top of all that. If my father even gets a hint of anyone helping me escape he could make their lives hell. I’m worried about Nino getting in trouble even if there is nothing linking him to my leaving. My father considers him a bad influence and would go after him without any proof. If he found out that Marinette helped me get away from him... who knows what he’d do? But I have to do something. I need help.”

“Chat Noir,” Tikki leaned towards him, “If you don’t want her to help you get away, will you at least let her be there for you?”

“What do you mean?”

“If you’re worried about her, or anyone else, getting in trouble from your dad for you running away, maybe don’t?” Tikki shrugged her tiny shoulders.

“What!”

“Stay with your dad for now. But, let Marinette be there for you. Call her whenever your dad gets to you and you feel stressed. Send her a text to meet up somewhere above Paris when you’ve had a bad day. Let her support you while you try to deal with it all.” Tikki slowly drifted to Chat’s knees and sat down. “It would be better if you got away from him but if you really think he would do something horrible to those you care about maybe, you could stay and depend on all of them more?”

Chat slowly shook his head. “No I have to leave. The sooner the better. I didn’t tell Ladybug the full story. When I got those papers about the course changes, I stormed home. I barged into his office. I yelled at him about doing this without talking to me. He said something about that I was too young to make decisions about this. That I wasn’t experienced enough to make choices about my future yet. I yelled at him that I was 15 and most of my friends are making those choices too. That nearly everyone my age was making those choices. He argued back that my friends were probably going to make the wrong choices. That I am an Agreste I have to have a better standard than others. We argued some more, I don’t remember all of what we said exactly. He basically said that wanting to attend public school, was the worst mistake I could have made. That he let me make that mistake so that I could look back on it and recognize it for what it was and should learn from it and not make that mistake again.”

Chat barely noticed Tikki patting his leg. He was trying not to cry again.

“My time in College and my friends are not mistakes.” He spoke those words gruffly. “I did not make a mistake about going to public school. I made a mistake of letting him have so much control of me and not letting him know I don’t like it sooner. For as far back as I can remember, he’s been telling me that I have to be quite, be well behaved, do what the grown ups say, keep your feelings to yourself whenever you can. Letting people find out what bothers you is a sign of weakness. Be calm and aloof in most situations. Think before you act and don’t create problems for others.” Chat paused for a moment as a revelation occurred to him. Before he could tell Tikki what he had thought, he heard Marinette on the stairs.


	4. Real men do cry.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat finally breaks down and Marinette comforts him. Meanwhile Tom and Sabine finally come up to investigate all the noise and crying.

Marinette slowly finished coming up the stairs. She placed a tray holding pastries, cookies, a couple of wedges of cheese and a couple of glasses of milk on her desk. Chat wouldn’t look up at her. He couldn’t let her see the remnants of tears on his face. He tried to brush them off on his shoulder but all he did was call her attention to them.

Marinette knelt down beside Chat Noir and gently took his face in her hands. She turned him towards her. While he let her turn his head, he couldn’t look her in the eyes and kept them downcast. Marinette brushed the tears from his face with her thumbs.

“I didn’t mean to overhear as I was coming up the stairs, but did your father tell you that all that?”

Chat still wouldn’t look at her.

“Chat, did you father tell you that you have to be quiet all the time?”

He grunted and shrugged.

“And keep your feelings to yourself, never show any weakness? To not be a bother or create problems for others? Did he really say that you made a mistake making friends?” Marinette slowly drew her face closer to his. She wasn’t going to give him a chance to ignore her.

Chat finally looked in her eyes. With a slow blink he said, “Yeah.”

“Oh Chat.” Marinette felt the tears building behind her own eyes. She leaned in closer and hugged him. Hugged him tight.

That, that was what finally broke Chat. It wasn’t that she was hugging him out of pity. It was that he could feel that she was offering genuine comfort. Nothing more. Just a hug to show that she cared and wanted him to feel better, that she was there for him no matter what.

The sobs that spilled from his lips started off small, slight choked gasps as the tears built again. They grew a little louder and Marinette squeezed him tighter.

“It’s ok Chat, you can cry. Everyone feels weak at times. It’s normal. It’s fine to cry. Sometimes you have to, you just have to let the emotion out. If someone else tells you not to, or makes fun of you, then they are in the wrong. It’s never bad or wrong to show that you are sad, or frustrated, or even angry.” She nuzzled her head against him. “You can be angry and cry. You can be sad and cry. I’m here, let it out until you feel like you can talk.”

With every word she spoke, Chat felt as if a weight was lifted off his chest and the crying grew. With Marinette telling him it was alright to feel he started to let it out. The sobs slowly grew louder. And with every passing moment it felt easier to cry. He sobbed, he drew shuddering breaths that felt like they would rattle his chest apart and cried some more. Incoherent words spilled from his lips. Words that hinted of the pain he was going through snuck out around the bone rattling sobs. He had to get them out, they had been bubbling in the pit of his stomach for so long now, and Marinette saying it was alright to feel this way, they had to burst forth.

Marinette never did hear all of them, slurred and shattered as his speech was. She figured he just needed to get them out of his system in order to move forward. She could ask him about them later. She vaguely caught words about his mother being gone, the pressure to be perfect, the tight rules he had to follow, his free time with his friends being far too little, the disappointment he felt from his father, the lack of control he had in his life.

It was a least ten minutes of Chat crying and spilling out all the pain he felt before his sobs started to quite down. Neither of them noticed when Tikki had grabbed a couple of cookies and flown off. Marinette pulled back from her hug and Chat could see the tears brimming in her own eyes and sliding down her cheeks. She brushed the tears from her eyes and his. Neither talking, just getting their breathing under control.

It was at that moment that there was a small cough from the stairs. Both of them whipped their heads around to see Tom just peaking up over the edge. “Are you two ok?” he asked.

Sabine called out from somewhere behind Tom, “We heard some banging and then the sounds of someone in the kitchen. We came out to investigate and heard the crying. Can we come up dear?”

Chat Noir and Marinette looked at each other in a panic. 

Silent sentences flowed between them.

I don’t want them to know.

They can help.

I don’t want them hurt.

I was going to tell them later anyway.

Why do they have to be involved?

They are grown ups who care, they will help.

They don’t know me.

You like me, they love you.

“Mari.” Was the first word spoken. It was a low growl with no threat behind it. Just a plea to not involve them.

“Weredad.” Was the second. No accusal, just a reminder that even after that, they care about him.

Chat remembered. Even after what had happened, they still cared. Despite him ‘breaking’ Marinette’s heart, they still liked him. Still wanted him to visit. Still wanted him around.

Before he could start crying again he slow blinked his eyes and nodded at Marinette. Giving her permission to have them come up and talk about it.

Marinette stood up and motioned for her parents to come up. She pulled the other desk chair over and unlocked the wheels of the chair Chat was in. Moving both close to the chaise so Tom and Sabine could sit down.

Marinette tried to look serious as she spoke, “Mom, dad..... Chat Noir followed me home. I’ve always wanted a cat. I’ll take good care of him. I’ll feed him and clean up after him and love him and tell him he’s a good kitty. Can I keep him?”


End file.
